National Assembly turns down special investigation into marine’s death

May 29, 2024, 09:12 am

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Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo (above) and Rep. Choi Jae-hyung, who publicly expressed their support for the special probe into the death of a marine in a rescue operation during last year’s floods, listen to floor leader Choo Kyung-ho’s speech at the National Assembly’s emergency meeting held in Seoul on May 28, 2024./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Kim Myung-eun

The National Assembly on Tuesday rejected a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military’s response to a Marine’s death last year that was up for a revote following a presidential veto of the bill last week.

The bill was voted down in a 179-111 vote with four abstentions and accordingly scrapped. For a bill already vetoed by the president to pass, it requires an approval from two-thirds or more of the lawmakers present in addition to a majority attendance. Two independent lawmakers Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Soo-jin did not attend the revote. Assuming that all 295 registered lawmakers who can vote except for lawmaker Youn Kwan-suk, who is in custody, attend the plenary session, the special counsel investigation bill would be passed if 197 votes were cast in favor. The number of seats in the pan-opposition bloc in favor of the bill is 180, and it would have taken 17 additional votes from the ruling People Power Party for the bill to pass.

However, as independent lawmaker Lee Soo-jin did not attend the session, the number of votes to pass the bill reduced to 196. If all 179 lawmakers present in the opposition party voted in favor of the bill, it could be said that none of the ruling party members voted against their party. However, the results suggest that there may have been some opposition members who did not back the bill as five PPP lawmakers including Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoo Eui-dong, Kim Woong, Choi Jae-hyung, and Kim Geun-tae publicly expressed their support for the bill ahead of the vote.

Analysts say that President Yoon and the PPP leadership have been relieved of the political burden for the moment as the controversial bill was rejected. However, the standoff is expected to continue as the DP voted to push for the bill once again in the upcoming 22nd Assembly.

Meanwhile, the parliament also passed another opposition-led bill -the revision to the special act to support victims of real estate fraud related to South Korea’s unique rental system called jeonse. The government and the ruling party have opposed the revision, but the opposition passed the bill amid a walkout by the PPP.

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